Need advice

I just love my dress blocks, and I even like the bow-n-ribbon sashing. But what I am floundering on is whether I ought to do another narrower border (0.5") around every block to help unify them more. I think the answer is definitely yes. My quandry is which material to use.

I have some of this Lakehouse Dry Goods Hydrangae Garden ticking. It is a lovely stripe, with a bit of almost metallic/sheen in the pinks. I will do the stripes around all 4 sides of the blocks the same (probably even miter the corners), but for the sake of this mock-up, I just layed the dresses and sashings on the fabric.

My other fabric candidate is this sage print. It has a fine flower pattern on it. It too looks great in the bedroom, but brings a more subtle look. I cannot decide which to use!!!

I think I know which one I am leaning towards, but I want other opinions.

Also, are the bow colors OK if I did use the stripe?